Back when it was called The Indie Author’s Guide to Book Editing: an early draft

I’ve helped countless authors along their publishing journey—at my own specific point in the process, in my own specific way—but with How to Hire an Editor, my new e-book, it’s the first time it’s been my name on the cover.

I may not have a traditional nine-to-five, but I do have steady client work, and I’ve been working on this book in my “down” time.

As life slowly returns to normal and I prepare to move forward from this experience and reconnect with the other plans I’ve set for my non-billable hours, I wanted to stop and reflect on what I’ve learned from my own journey.

1. People are generally supportive and love to help.

When I first started, I wasn’t sure if anyone I reached out to for a short contribution would be interested in a little book about editing and self-publishing by a science fiction editor from the Midwest.

But as I developed more and more relationships in the independent author community, I became more comfortable sending that initial email.

I was very pleasantly surprised at the response I received, and my book benefits greatly from the extra insights from folks like sci-fi author Graham Storrs, writers’ group founder Laura Pepper Wu, and my own editor, Kellie M. Hultgren of KMH Editing.

2. You can do some fascinating things with e-book formatting.

I’m a happy Scrivener user, and I’m very much looking forward to using it to format my own fiction e-books, which I understand is entirely possible. This would make it possible to create a version specifically for each e-book seller, allowing for some pretty cool customization. The Mac version is pretty full-blooded, though regular updates keep the PC version not far behind. [affiliate links]

For this effort, however, I wanted to use sidebars and look as professional as possible, so I went to Liz Schewe at Publish Green for help. She transformed my Word document into a stunning e-book, doing things I had no idea could be done, and I’m so pleased with the result.

3. Design is a thread that ties everything together.

Way back when, I went to designer Jenni Wheeler of Hillcrest Media Group about designing my business cards, and voilà—my logo was born. Out of that logo grew everything: my website (Emily Gable), my book cover (also Jenni Wheeler), and my website’s entire personality. (Freelancers Union even gave me a shout!)

Keeping this consistency in mind helps me focus on keeping my efforts consistent, which helps potential readers know what to expect. And when it came to how to position and market my book, I knew exactly who to be: myself.

4. NookPress does not appreciate curly apostrophes in the title field/product description.

Not one bit. Don’t even try it. That way madness lies.

(Hats off to Stacy Ennis for catching the resulting formatting explosion and saving me from myself!)

5. The learning is never over.

I always knew I wanted to help indie authors understand the steps they need to take to produce a quality book. But through the process of shaping this book—in many ways an attempt to aggregate everything I’ve experienced in my freelance career so far—I’ve really had an opportunity to discover how best I can achieve that. I’ve had a lot of wonderful feedback from authors and editors, and I have so many plans I can’t wait to share with you!

If you haven’t gotten your copy, you can snag one from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Smashwords, and lots of other places. Or, contact me for a review copy!

(Kobo, iTunes, and many more coming soon!)